Some thieves don’t have the common sense of hiding their purchases after stealing thousands in cash. One woman employed as a house cleaner managed to swipe $400,000 from an elderly couple in Alabama. It took months before the couple noticed that their savings had been pilfered and by that point the thief had already spent the money on a lot of expensive items before the police finally caught up with her.
Maid stole thousands in cash from Alabama couple
28-year-old Tabitha White faces a felony charge of financial exploitation of the elderly after she stole $400K in cash from a home in Bay Minette, according to the Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office per FOX 10.
Andy Ashton, a lieutenant from BCSO, stated it took several months before the couple noticed that a large portion of their stash had been stolen, but they already had a suspect in mind.
“They thought maybe it had to do something with Miss White, who was their maid basically,” Ashton recalled. “Once they identified her, we reached out with her and we kind of started talking with her about it.”
He continued, “I think she initially came forth, with a large sum of money from her house, that she claimed was from there and kind of left it at that.”
Investigators didn’t stop there, though, and searched White’s property where they found that she had gone on an expensive shopping spree with the stolen cash. Photos of the haul show a four-wheeler, other recreational vehicles, a stovetop, several chainsaws, lawnmowers, and numerous appliances still in boxes.
The report doesn’t say why it was so easy for the thief to steal the money from the elderly couple and whether the cash was secured in a safe. There is also no explanation for why the couple decided to hide such a large sum on their property instead of a bank.
Either way, the lieutenant says White should not have taken advantage of the couple’s trust.
“These cases are difficult. I mean, you get to a certain age in life and you’re on a fixed income,” Ashton explained. “Not everybody is blessed with wealth or whatnot, so they’re, they have what they have to live on and for people to take advantage of situations like that, it’s shameful.”
